Indian troops kill 3 in Kashmir fighting

SRINAGAR, Sep 2 (AP): Indian government forces killed three suspected rebels in a gunbattle Tuesday in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, where many residents oppose India's decades-long rule, officials said.
 The fighting began early in the day as troops were responding to a tip about militants hiding in a house in southern Rajpora village, said Indian paramilitary officer O.S. Charak.
 The troops shouted for the militants to surrender and opened fire when they refused, sparking a gunbattle that lasted several hours and left three militants dead, Charak said. There were no casualties among the Indian forces, and no immediate statement from any of the rebel groups fighting against Indian rule since 1989.
 As the fighting raged, hundreds of villagers tried to stage an anti-India protest march to the site of the gunbattle but were held back, an officer said on customary condition of anonymity.
 The villagers hurled stones and chanted slogans including "Go India, go back" and "We want freedom," while the troops and police retaliated by firing tear gas and bullets into the air in an effort to disperse the crowd. No injuries were reported from those clashes, which occurred near the village, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) south of the region's main city of Srinagar.
 Violence in the region has escalated in recent weeks, with regular skirmishes between Indian and Pakistani troops stationed along the heavily militarized and disputed mountain border. Last week, up to 15,000 villagers along the border fled to temporary government shelters to escape the whizzing bullets and exploding shells in their backyards.
 India has also accused Pakistan of arming and providing cover for militant fighters to cross over into the Indian-administered side and stage attacks against law enforcement. Pakistan staunchly denies this, saying it gives the militants only moral and diplomatic support in their demands for either a merger with Pakistan or full independence from India.
 Both India and Pakistan claim Kashmir in its entirety, while each has administered a part of it since both countries gained independence in 1947. Tensions rise each summer as weather warms, allowing fighters and protesters outdoors.